H.R. 9504 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the House, sent to the Committee on Ways and Means, Jun 29, 2026
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryRequires tax-exempt hospitals to report more details
Tax-exempt hospitals are organizations that don't pay income taxes because they serve the public interest. Right now they file basic tax forms with the IRS, but this bill would require them to report much more information, including how they're addressing community health needs, their financial assistance programs, and details about how many people applied for help paying medical bills and whether they were approved or denied. Some larger hospitals would have to provide even more details.
How it affects you
If you receive care at a tax-exempt hospital, this doesn't directly change your hospital experience or bills. However, the bill aims to make it easier for the public and government to see what financial assistance these hospitals are actually providing to people who can't afford care, and whether they're meeting the health needs of their communities.
Read the official summary (Introduced in House, Jun 29, 2026)
Tax Exempt Hospital Transparency Act
This bill requires tax-exempt hospital organizations to report additional information to the Internal Revenue Service.
The bill defines a tax-exempt hospital organization as an organization that is licensed or recognized as a hospital and is required to
• conduct a community health needs assessment and adopt a strategy to meet the needs identified in the assessment,
• have a written financial assistance policy,
• limit charges for emergency and medically necessary care provided to individuals eligible for financial assistance and prohibit the use of gross charges,
• meet certain billing and collection requirements, and
• file IRS Form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax).
Under the bill, a tax-exempt hospital organization must include with Form 990 certain identifying information and
• a description of how the organization addresses the needs identified in the most recent community health needs assessment, the needs not addressed, and the reasons why needs are not being addressed;
• audited financial statements;
• the value (at cost) of the financial assistance provided; and
• the numbers of completed financial assistance applications received, granted, and denied during the tax year.
Further information reporting requirements are imposed on certain large or high-revenue tax-exempt hospital organizations.
Finally, the bill requires the Government Accountability Office to (1) study and report the costs associated with the additional information reporting requirements, and (2) estimate the amount of tax revenue that would be generated from the 25 tax-exempt hospital organizations with the highest gross revenue if such organizations were not exempt from tax.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
2nd SessionH. R. 9504
A BILL
Tax Exempt Hospital Transparency Act
Sponsor: Rep. Gregory F. Murphy (R-NC-3) · Introduced Jun 29, 2026 · Taxation · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Jul 1, 2026: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 15.”